Liz Copan / ecopan@summitdaily.com
The Summit High School varsity girls basketball team (5-6) defeated Eagle Valley at home on Thursday evening, 39-35.
The Tigers benefited from an explosive start to the first quarter, head coach Kayle Walker Burns said was probably the best start Summit has had all season.
“We had a lot of energy,” the coach said, “our press was picking off steals, and we were finishing layups off those steals.”
That said, the Tigers went into the half trailing 18-17, after a defensive second quarter saw just 13 points total.
Summit bounced back in the third quarter, outscoring the Devils 13-8 to take a four-point lead into the fourth quarter, which they’d eventually hold on to.
Burns said down the stretch, the Tigers showed discipline and controlled the ball. With less than a minute to go, Tigers senior guard and leader Nicole Kimball converted two free throws on a one-and-one opportunity at the charity stripe that extended Summit’s lead to five and allowed the Tigers to breathe a little bit more.
Kimball ended the game as Summit’s top scorer with 12 points, including a huge 3-pointer in the final stretch of the game. Kimball rounded out her box score with five steals, four deflections and five assists.
“But something the stats don’t show is the way she dribbled through the press and pressure defense from Eagle Valley,” Burns said. “She sees the court very well and is such a great ball handler. Her after-hours gym time really shows in her play. She’s a workhorse and an amazing athlete.”
On the defensive end, the Tigers looked to junior captain guard Karen Barrios and Emily Koetteritz to shut down the Devils’ top scorers. Both players were tasked with pressuring the ball on the front of Summit’s press, and forced a lot of turnovers as a result. Barrios also added four points, four rebounds three steals and three deflections.
On the inside, Summit senior captain Anna Tomlinson scored eight points and hauled in 10 rebounds while going four-for-four from the free-throw line.
Summit’s Sarah Pappas was also a big impact player throughout the game, seeing the court well and contributing six deflections and two steals, mainly off of Summit’s 2-2-1 press. Pappas scored eight points and grabbed six rebounds. Down in the post, Tigers freshman Autumn Rivera added seven points, four rebounds and one steal.
Summit will next play Saturday at Palisade (12:30 p.m.)